Difference In Teacher Candidates Research Articles

A Multi‐Institution Study of Elementary Teacher Candidates’ Self-Efficacy: Analysis of Participant Characteristics and Implications for Teacher Educators

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare teacher candidates’ sense of self-efficacy across institutions and at two different points within the teacher preparation program. Teacher candidate characteristics such as age and hometown were also explored in relation to reported levels of self-efficacy. Data in this study were collected from 143 teacher candidates enrolled at three Midwest institutions utilizing the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES). Data analysis identified no statistically significant differences in teacher candidates’ self-efficacy across three institutions, at two different points in the teacher preparation program, or based on age or hometown. Rasch results indicated that the TSES was invariant across age and teacher preparation programs. Implications for future research and teacher education are discussed.

The influence of paired grouping on teacher candidates’ attitude towards technology use and integration

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the influence of paired grouping on teacher candidates’ perceived attitude towards technology use and integration after completing a required educational technology course. To measure perceived attitude towards technology use and integration, a purposeful sample of 83 teacher candidates completed the Attitude Toward Technology Scale. Additionally, 24 teacher candidates participated in semi-structured interviews to provide a more comprehensive view of teacher candidates’ perceptions of paired grouping and what the connections were to the use of paired grouping on their perceived attitudes in regard to technology use and integration. Results indicated a statistically significant mean difference in teacher candidates’ perceived attitude towards technology use and integration prior to and following a paired grouping experience. Additionally, an improved attitude was the major theme that emerged from responses concerning paired grouping.

Aktif Öğrenmeye Dayalı Etkinliklerin Okul Öncesi Öğretmen Adaylarının Çevre Etiği Farkındalığı, Çevre Davranışı ve Çevre Eğitimine İlişkin Özyeterliklerine Etkisi

The aim of this research is to determine whether active learning-based instruction effects preschool teacher candidates’ awareness of environmental ethics, environmental behaviors and environmental education self-efficacy. The study was carried out with 29 preschool teacher candidates within the scope of “Environmental Education and Sustainability” course in the Fall semester of 2017-2018 academic year. Data were obtained through Environmental Ethics Awareness Scale, Environmental Behavior Scale, and Environmental Education Self-Efficacy Scale. The research was based on triangulation design which is mixed method and quantitative part of it the research data obtained on weak experimental design study. The data were analyzed in the SPSS 22 program. In the scope of the study, teacher candidates were asked to analyze the films related to environment, to examine the articles concerning the environment, and make presentations with the activities that they developed regarding the environment. The findings of the study revealed that activities based on active learning did not make a significant difference in teacher candidates’ awareness of environmental ethics and environmental behaviors, but it had positive effects on their self-efficacy in environmental education.

Opportunities to enact practice in campus courses: Taking a student perspective

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to explore similarities and differences in teacher candidates’ perceptions of their opportunities to enact practice in university courses in five teacher education programmes, located in Norway, Finland, USA, Cuba, and Chile. Paper and pencil surveys were distributed among candidates (N = 488) to measure their perception of their opportunities to enact practice in campus courses. Across programmes, the students report the least opportunity to examine transcripts of classroom talk or student discussions. They report the most opportunity to talk about their field placement and to plan for their teaching. Using Analysis of Variance, differences between the programmes were studied. Students in a programme which has explicitly made efforts to connect theory and practice over a period of 15 years do report more opportunities to enact practice. Students from a programme that has been constantly working on improvements but not a major redesign conceptualised around coherence, report experiencing fewer opportunities to enact practice. We conclude that teaching practices closely linked to pupils’ understanding might be in need of additional attention in teacher education programmes.

English

The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences in teacher candidates’ metacognitive skills analyzed according to the year of study in their undergraduate program they were in. The research methodology in the study was survey. Among survey types, the cross-sectional design was used. The sample of the study included a total of 1072 students (322 male and 750 female) who studied in the Elementary Education, Science Education, and Preschool Teaching Divisions at the Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary School Education during the spring semester of 2012 to 2013. Data was collected using the “Metacognitive Skills Inventory for Adults”, which was developed by Schraw & Denisson (1994) and adapted into Turkish by Ozcan (2007). It was found that the metacognitive skill scores of teacher candidates who were studying in their third and fourth years were higher than those who attended first year and second year. Key words: Faculty of Education, metacognitive skills, thinking, year of study.

Becoming a Teacher in the United States: Are Attitudes of Incoming Candidates Malleable?

In the United States over the course of the last few decades, teacher education programs have been intentionally truncated. This often leaves teacher educators somewhat discouraged as to whether they are able to make any differences in teacher candidates during this relatively short period of time. Research seems to say that while we can teach prospective teachers specific knowledge and skills, we will find it much more difficult to change teacher attitudes or dispositions. The study reported in this article examines whether beliefs about teaching change during a two and one-half year undergraduate teacher education program. The study recorded the beliefs and attitudes of students as they entered a teacher education program and compared these with their attitudes upon graduation five semesters later, using a semantic differential instrument that demonstrates differences in perceptions of certain words. The results of this study are presented, and then this study is compared to a similar study undertaken with students in a one-year teacher education program. Finally, implications of the study for teacher education programs are discussed. In the United States, the teaching profession and teacher preparation programs have been the perennial targets of wide-ranging but largely illinformed criticism. At least beginning with the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education), teachers have borne the brunt of all the evils of the United States from economic woes to global warming. Through it all, generation after generation of teachers have kept right on. We find them meeting their classes, honing their craft, and shielding their students to the best of their abilities against the worst excesses of United States educational policies. Teacher preparation programs, especially those traditional programs housed in universities, have also been routinely criticized for failing to produce more able teachers. The same distrust and lack of respect that is unthinkingly heaped upon teachers themselves is also extended to the programs which educate these teachers. This has resulted in increasing governmental intervention and control in teacher education. The simplest area to target for this has turned out to be the curriculum of teacher education. Because the

Differences in teacher candidates’ attitudes toward science according to some psycho-social variables

Teachers are expected to have positive attitude toward science to equip students with scientific thinking abilities. In this descriptive study, the attitudes of the teacher candidates toward science are evaluated with the Attitudes toward Science Scale, developed by Patrick A. Vitale and Brenda K. Johnson in 1988. The differences in attitudes were evaluated according to some psycho-social variables gathered through a personal information form. The results indicated that students perceived instrumental value of science and difficulty and complexities of science differently depending on their department. Another important finding is that students who want to apply for a doctoral program perceive the instrumental value of science differently from students who are not preferred to apply for a doctoral study. Also, the perception of the participants about difficulty and complexities of science differ according to the place they lived most of their life time as town, city or metropolitan.

Examination of the Professional Self-Esteem of Teacher Candidates Studying at a Faculty of Education

This study aims to determine the professional self-esteem levels of teacher candidates studying at the Faculty of Education, Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Turkey, to examine whether certain variables create any differences in their professional self-esteem levels and to propose suggestions in accordance with the results. The study was conducted among first- and fourth-year students. Data about the participants was collected through the use of a general information form, and their self-esteem levels were evaluated through the Scale for Professional Self-Esteem developed by Arıcak. The results reveal that gender, grade level, credit given to the importance of teaching as a profession, the ranking of choosing teaching as a profession at university and participating in professional activities in teaching do not cause any differences in teacher candidates' self-esteem levels, yet the activities of lecturers with regard to the reputation of teaching cause differences in their self-esteem levels.